Alchemiae Basica

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Alchemiae Basica
An Alchemy Primer
for the
Ignorant
and
Historically Impaired
Compiled by Amanda Diane Doerr
THE PURPOSE OF ALCHEMY
THE ALCHEMIST'S LABORATORY
THE EIGHT RULES OF ALBERTUS MAGNUS
THE WISDOM OF ARISTOTLE
THE ASTROLOGICAL CONNECTION
THE BETTER KNOWN METHODS
THE ACCEPTANCE OF ALCHEMY
THE MONASTERY LINK
THE MOST FAMOUS ANCIENT ALCHEMIST
THE FEMALE ALCHEMIST
THE MOST OUTSPOKEN ALCHEMIST
THE FRAUDULENT PRACTITIONERS
GLOSSARY
THE PURPOSE OF ALCHEMY
Surely there is a vein for the silver, and a place for gold where they find it. Iron is taken out of the earth, and
brass is molten out of the stone. He setteth an end to darkness, and searcheth out all perfection: the stones of
darkness, and the shadow of death. (OldT:Job 28:1-3)
Alchemy is extremely complicated. It is based on the practical skills of early metal
workers and craftsmen, on Greek philosophy, and on Eastern mystic cults that
sprang up in the first centuries after Christ and influenced so much of magic and
occult thought.
It must be remembered that when alchemy flourished there was
no dividing line between science and magic.
Ideas such as the influence of the
planets and the effect of certain numbers or letters on people's lives might today be
regarded as superstitious. At that time they were perfectly acceptable to those who
were making the kind of accurate observations about the material world that paved
the way for modern science.
Long before the beginning of alchemy,
gold
was regarded as the most valuable
metal. Its possession indicated wealth and power, and it was prized for its beauty.
Known as the most perfect metal, it soon required symbolic meaning. It came to
stand for excellence, wisdom, light, and perfection. For serious alchemists gold had
both a real and a symbolic significance, which at first seems confusing. The reason
is that alchemists embarked on two different and difficult quests at the same time,
and success in one meant success in the other. The
first
aim is the one that most
people know about.
The alchemist was attemping to find a way of transmuting,
or changing, ordinary metals into the most perfect metal, gold.
The
second
aim
is less known but far more important.
The alchemist was trying to make the soul
progress from its ordinary state to one of spiritual perfection.
For many centuries Western alchemists ceaselessly searched for the Philosopher's
Stone. What was this elusive object? It was not some giant boulder on which
ancient sages sat and meditated. Nor was it a closely guarded tablet inscribed with
words of wisdom. It was a substance that alchemists were convinced they could
make, with divine assistance, by subjecting certain raw materials to complex and
lengthy chemical processes. The problem was to find the right raw materials and
the correct chemical processes.
It was a widely held belief that the Universe was
permeated by a spirit that linked everything together. Alchemists thought that
this spirit could somehow be reproduced and compressed into a magical
substance which they named the Philosopher's Stone.
Once discovered, a small
quantity of this magical substance added to ordinary metal would change it into
gold. Taken as a medicine, the Stone would act as a miraculous cure. It was even
believed by some to confer immortality, and was often called the Elixir of Life.
All the patient experiments that the alchemists carried out in their laboratories over
the centuries were motivated by one overwhelming desire--to produce the
Philosopher's Stone. In the course of their painstaking and dedicated work they
established many important chemical facts which, even if they did not lead to the
Philosopher's Stone, helped to form the basis of chemistry as we know it today.
The greatest alchemists were skilled in many fields. The scope of knowledge in
those days was small enough that a person might hope to master all there was to
know about subjects as diverse as medicine and religion, philosophy and alchemy,
logic and magic. The seeker of knowledge would see nothing incompatible in the
different fields of study. Knowledge was thought of as a unity, and all the different
branches were different aspects of this unity. They all led toward a greater
understanding of the Universe.
[From
Alchemy, the Ancient Science
by Neil Powell; pages 8 and 11. Boldface and italics added.]
THE ALCHEMIST'S LABORATORY
Make you perfect in every good work to do his will, working in you that which is wellpleasing in his sight,
through Jesus Christ; to whom be glory for ever and ever. Amen. (NewT:Hebrews 13:21)
What would an alchemist's laboratory have looked? We can gain a good idea from
the many 16th- and 17th-century engravings and paintings of the subject. The walls
of the room would probably be covered with strange symbols and alchemical
inscriptions in Latin, Greek, Hebrew, or Arabic. Animal skeletons and bunches of
medicinal herbs might hang from the ceiling. The tables would be piled high with
books and parchments, jostling for space with retorts and crucibles and the odd
human skull. There would be several furnaces to provide different heats, and a
bellows to fan the flames. There would be a glass mask for protecting the face, and
there would be shelves filled with numerous jars, stills, and tripods.
Of course, for
the true alchemist, an alter for prayer and meditation was an essential
feature.
The room would probably be tucked away somewhere in the cellar or the
attic, where a gleam of light showing late at night would not attract too much
attention. Alchemists were always anxious to preserve secrecy about their work. If
too many people knew about their activities they might be persecuted by the
Church for their strange beliefs, or hounded by greedy people hoping to amass a
fortune.
[From
Alchemy, the Ancient Science
by Neil Powell; pages 17 and 19. Boldface added.]
Equipment
Alembic
: the part of a still were liquid condenses.
Alundel: the part of a still which receives the distilled liquid.
Anthanor: a furnace rather like a modern chemist's sand bath, but using ashes
instead.
Bain-Marie: an ancient water bath. Said to be the invention of Mary the Jewess, an
early alchemist.
Calcinary Furnace
: used for reducing metals and minerals into a fine powder.
Cucurbit: the part of the still where distillation occurs.
Cupel: a crucible made of bone ash.
Crucible: a small clay bowl, shaped so it could be supported on the rim of a
furnace. Use for heating things at a high temperature.
Descensory
: a funnel.
Descensory Furnace
: a furnace with a funnel for pouring liquid down to a
recepticle inside.
Dissolving Furnace: a small furnace supporting a pan of water with rings in the pan
to hold glass containers. Resembles the modern water bath. See Bain-Marie.
Kerotakis
: old name for a Soxhlet extractor.
Matrass
: a simple flask. See Philosopher's Egg.
Pelican: a special distilling flask with two necks for continuous distillation.
Philosopher's Egg: a special type of retort in which the neck of the flask went
straight up. The forerunner of the modern Florence flask.
Retort: a flask with a long curved neck which curved downward. Named after a
type of wild goose.
Still
: short for distilling. An apparatus which boils liquids and catches the
condensation.
Tripod: older version of a ring stand.
Beakers, crystallization dishes, spatulas, cloth filters, mortars and pestles, and
tongs were also used by the alchemist in much the same way they are used by
chemists today.
[From
Alchemy, the Ancient Science
by Neil Powell]
THE EIGHT RULES OF ALBERTUS MAGNUS
Having therefore these promises, dearly beloved, let us cleanse ourselves from all filthiness of the flesh and spirit,
perfecting holiness in the fear of God. (NewT:2 Corinthians 7:1)
Albertus was a renowned Dominican monk. Here's his advice to honest alchemists:
1) Be reserved and silent.
2) Work in a remote private home.
3) Choose your working hours prudently.
4) Be patient, watchfull, and tenacious.
5) Work on a fixed plan.
6) Use only glass or glazed earthenware crucibles.
7) You must be rich enough to pay for your experiments.
(Several centuries
earlier, an alchemist named Zosimos the Wise suggested marrying a rich wife.)
8) Have nothing to do with princes and nobles.
[From
The Goldmakers
, by K. K. Doberer; page 44.]
THE WISDOM OF ARISTOTLE
But the God of all grace, who hath called us unto his eternal glory by Christ Jesus, after that ye have suffered a
while, make you perfect, stablish, strengthen, settle you. (NewT:1 Peter 5:10)
One of the most influential writers whose works were rediscovered in the library in
Alexandria was Aristotle. His ideas had a particular influence on the development
of alchemy. According to Aristotle, the basis of the entire material world was
something he called
prime
or
first matter
. This was not, as it may first sound, some
gray sludge from which the world would gradually evolved. In fact, it was not a
substance one could see or touch. It had no physical existence on its own account.
However, it was the one unchangeable reality behind the ever-changing material
world. To give this matter a physical identity and individual characteristics, various
stages of form were needed.
The first stage of form, Aristotle believed, was found in the four elements of
Earth, Air, Fire, and Water.
The elements, while distinguished from each other,
are also related by four qualities. These qualities are dry, moist, hot, and cold. Each
element possesses two qualities, of which one predominates, and each element is
linked to two other elements by the quality they possess in common. Here is how
this system applies:
Fire is hot and dry with heat predominating.
Air is hot and moist with moisture predominating.
Water is moist and cold with cold predominating.
Earth is cold and dry with dryness predominating.
FIRE
* *
* *
Hot * * Dry
*+---------+*
* | | *
AIR * | | * EARTH
* | | *
*+---------+*
Wet * * Cold
* *
* *
WATER
The diagram (above) shows complex interrelationship of these qualities more
clearly.
The main interest of Aristotle's theory of the elements from the point of view of
alchemy is the idea of change.
According to his theory each element can be
transformed into another element through the quality they possess in
common.
In this way Fire can become Air through the action of heat; Air can
become Water through the action of moistness; Water can become Earth through
the action of coldness; and Earth can become Fire through the action of dryness. It
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